The San Diego Chargers are in the midst of a rebirth. Not 24 hours after beating the Raiders in the final game of the season, Spanos relieved General Manager A.J. Smith and Head Coach Norv Turner of their respective duties. The Smith/Turner era in San Diego had come to a close.

Following the firings, Dean Spanos retained the services of Ron Wolf to aid in the General Manager and Head Coach searches. At the time, the conventional wisdom around the league was that Jimmy Raye III would be named the General Manager, and Bruce Arians was the front-runner for the Head Coaching job.

Arians had his supporters and detractors, but Raye was almost universally derided because if he were hired, it sent a message of "more of the same" to the fans.